


(Do Not) Wait For It

by PuppetMaster55



Series: Shangst Week [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Shangst Week 2017, shangstweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 11:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11312037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppetMaster55/pseuds/PuppetMaster55
Summary: Shiro, before the Kerberos mission, gets some advice from Matt about ensuring a relationship upon his return to Earth.





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> Does this count as angsty?

Shiro looked out over the cafeteria, scanning for the familiar face. The person, the one with the infectious smile and beautifully soft-looking hair. After nearly a minute of looking, Shiro smiled as he spotted them, saw the friend they were always with, the large kid with the patch denoting his engineering track.

“Go talk to him.” Matt groaned, sliding into place beside him. He eyed Shiro's untouched lunch tray balefully. “Or eat your lunch while you make gooey eyes from here, like a creep. I need you to pass the flight sim, or I'll get stuck with someone else flying the Icarus.”

“I can't just talk to them.” Shiro stabbed his fork into his lunch, raising it up and pausing when it entered his mouth empty and soaked in broth. Matt snorted, expertly dipping his spoon into his own bowl of stew as Shiro swapped his fork for the right utensil. Across the cafeteria, the person was in a heated debate with their friend, who was aggressively gesturing with both a fork and a spoon. “How do you even know that they're a guy anyway?”

“Yes you can, you gooey dope.” Matt pointed his spoon at Shiro, then at the figure. “And I know because I used my newly gotten status as a lieutenant to find his student records. He's registered as a Lance McClain, and he's trying to double for flight and logistics. Guy's ambitious, like a Slytherin. He'd do well with your Hufflepuff... you.”

“He is _not_ a Slytherin, and stop saying I'm a Hufflepuff,” Shiro grumbled. He paused, his expression softening as the kid– Lance grinned, laughing at whatever his friend was enthusiastically talking about. “Lance, huh? It suits him.”

“ _Eat_ ,” Matt insisted, taking hold of Shiro's spoon – and the hand holding it – and aggressively shoved a spoonful of stew at Shiro's mouth. “I _need_ you to pass the flight sim.”

“It'll be fine,” Shiro replied once he'd swallowed. “I'm trying the sim with K.C., everything's going to go smoothly. I probably won't even need to do much flying, even when we go up.”

“I don't trust robots,” Matt declared. “Do I _look_ like my sister? I don't! Because I'm not Katie. I don't trust robots as far as I can throw them. Give me a human pilot any day.”

Shiro glanced at Matt for a moment, raising a judgmental eyebrow. “You're the most anti-robot biologist I've ever met.”

“I like alive things,” Matt acerbically replied. “Flesh and blood and biology and a bit of biochemistry. You seriously think we should just scrap this manned mission and send robots instead? They won't know what they're looking at, and it'll still end up with me, squinting at a grainy photograph here on Earth instead of staring down the microscope like I should.” Matt paused. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Uh-huh,” Shiro replied, mechanically eating the stew as he stared at Lance. “Sure. Yeah.”

“Talk to him,” Matt groaned, shoving at Shiro. “Get that whole thing on lockdown, you goob.”

“He's an underclassman,” Shiro replied, gently glaring at Matt. “I can't just walk up to him and ask him out on a date. That's just weird.”

“There's like five years of difference between my mom and dad,” Matt dryly replied. “Do you know how many times I've heard the story of how Mom met Dad when she was the T.A. for his statistics class? Too many. Go. Ask him out. Plan to sneak him away into town and eat real food and bond over pointing out where the constellations are and which are your favorite. Anything to stop all... that.”

Shiro froze, looking at Matt askance. “You just gestured to all of me.”

“Exactly!” Matt shook his head. “You've been staring at this guy for half the year, and I _will_ throw myself out the airlock if I have to spend two years stuck in a spaceship while you pine and fantasize about him.”

“Your dad won't let you,” Shiro mildly retorted.

“Of course not, he'll be the first one to throw himself out the airlock. I'll just be following his example, like a good lieutenant following his commander.” Matt nodded matter-of-factly, and glared at Shiro when he tried to protest. “Now go and date him until he's ready to promise to wait for you to come back in two years.”

“How do you even know if he'll wait?” Shiro looked back at Lance, who was standing and walking away.

“Last month he submitted an essay about his inspirations for piloting,” Matt said, and grinned. “His section on you is the largest. Trust me, he wants you at least as much as you want him.”

“What?” Shiro balked. “That's not right. He shouldn't–”

“If you don't then I'm going in _for_ you,” Matt declared. “I will get everything ready for the both of you if I have to. Even a nice headshot and some candids for him to stare at and cuddle. I bet he has that poster they made of you hanging over his bed.” Matt slyly grinned. “Go and get some promised booty, Shiro. The window is closing.”

“Alright!” Shiro stood. “Fine. I'll go ask Lance for coffee. And then we'll see about dating _after_ I get back from Kerberos.” Shiro walked away from the table, shaking his head. “How do you even _have_ candid pictures of me anyway?”

“I am stealthy like that,” Matt replied, grinning. “Now go get that relationship with the guy on lockdown. Our sim is in twenty minutes and he's already leaving for his next class.”

Shiro yelped, running along to talk to Lance. They had to leave to Kerberos in a month, and that wasn't nearly enough time to establish any sort of relationship. But it would be enough of a start for Shiro to know for sure if Lance could wait for him, if Lance would wait for him.

Once he was back from Kerberos, Shiro could start a _real_ relationship with Lance.

 


	2. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was better, this way.

Shiro stared across at Lance, stared at the how hesitant he looked, how guarded. It had been nearly two years since either of them had seen the other, and Shiro couldn't bring himself to act as he wanted.

This was not how he planned his return to Earth. This was not how he wanted to start a relationship with Lance. If Shiro was at all honest with himself, he didn't want to be in a relationship at all, not after... whatever had happened. His body didn't feel quite like his own, anymore. He already knew about the scars, was already pushed to accept the loss of his hand and its replacement.

Shiro was not the person he was before. He wasn't sure if he could still be that person, if he could still find it in himself to be who he used to be for Lance.

“Lance, right?” Shiro asked, tentative and curious. He extended his right hand, and tried his best not to let his hurt show when Lance's expression fell, just a little. The idea of someone else reaching out to him left an uncomfortable itch beneath his skin that he couldn't abide. Reaching out to hug Keith earlier had felt overwhelming, bringing up a level of touch starvation that Shiro was terrified to sate. “Thanks for saving me.”

Lance reached out, his flesh hand gripping the prosthetic tightly, knuckles nearly turning white. “It's– it's great to meet you.”

Shiro couldn't restart their relationship. Not yet. Not until he knew what had happened. Not until his body started feeling like his body again. Not until he started feeling like himself again.

Behind Lance, the window showed his reflection, showed the white bangs and the scar. For a moment, Shiro almost thought he saw his eyes glow yellow. For a moment, he almost heard muffled laughter, as if from another room.

It was better, Shiro mused as they were led to the caves, that he keep Lance at a distance. It was better that they not restart their relationship. It was better that he ignored the hurt in his heart.

If his heart slowly breaking was the price of keeping Lance safe, then Shiro would gladly let his fragile, cracked self shatter.

 


End file.
